This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest. Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend.
Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adietes on the Sounder at Heart podcast network. I am Jeremiah Oshan. Joining me today for a bit of a preseason. look at the Western conference is the one and only armchair analyst, Matt Doyle. Thank you for doing this. And we are going to make a real effort to convince you to come on as regularly as possible since you don't have a podcast anymore.
You start by the convincing process by twisting the knife like that? Is that... Is that what convincing is in the Pacific Northwest? I think you've learned from Bezos and Gates and all those billionaires out there. You can never be nice. no no you don't there's no you don't catch you catch flies with vinegar or something like that
Yeah, or with billions and billions of dollars, which I assume that the Sounder at Heart podcast network has at this point. Stonks only go up. Right. Exactly. Exactly. We are. We are swimming in billions of dollars, as it were. But Matt, thank you for doing this. I was very, as a more serious, I was very sad about the demise of Extra Time Radio. It is, I am scrambling to figure out how it will fill this void in my personal.
life although soccer wise I will admit seems to be doing a pretty good job of that so I'm hoping to get you we will still hear from you on podcast platforms Yeah. I mean, it does free me up to, to come on your show a little bit more often and come on soccer wise. I think pretty regularly at that one for, if you're a U S national team sicko, I'll probably be on scuffed quite a bit. So there'll be a lot.
lot of fun um I I'm already missing having my own podcast but who knows maybe we'll get our Lazarus moment with extra time down the road so we'll see There we go. Are we going to, not to get lost in these weeds, but what is, are we going to see more from you or read more from you on MLS these days?
Yeah, I'll probably be doing three columns a week. So I think it'll be a little bit more writing than I've done the past couple of years. And then, you know, I'm planning to do more tactical clips with.
sort of animation and narration to to make sure that it's not just we're in a different time than when i first started writing that column 15 years ago like you need to have a visual aspect to it and um i am an old dog but i have been learning some new tricks in terms of software and and you know the video part of it and i'm pretty excited about trying to
apply that and since i like i don't have to be in the studios on saturday night i'm gonna be at home watching mls in my underwear like the good old days so i'll have my computer in front of me and be able to pick the clips i want and uh you know they canceled my podcast but they didn't take all my gear so i'll have the good microphone and everything for the the narration so we're ready to go yeah absolutely well i will say that we you know we did this survey on on sounder at heart and by far
By far, the most popular analyst on the Apple TV broadcast, at least among our readers, was you, Matt Doyle. And the one thing that we get... requested for more than anything else is more tactical analysis. And when we talk about doing video, they want to see more videos so i think your instincts are correct as to fingers still on the pulse jeremiah finger is still on the pulse after all these years
Absolutely. Well, the reason I wanted to have you on was to sort of give an overview to give a sense of a broader picture of what's going on in the Western conference, the East. I don't care. I don't care what's going on in the Eastern conference. This is, this is what, this is why we have a pod. This is, this is what we were doing away with on the sounder at heart podcast network.
We barely even recognize that the Eastern Conference exists. And so, sure, Atlanta is going to go out and sign Miguel Almarone and whatever this other guy is from Burrow. And they're going to spend billions of dollars on the East, but on the West.
That's where the fun is because, well, it's a little different on the West Coast. You and I, before we started recording, were discussing whether or not the West has maybe gotten worse than it was last year. If you sort of... take the the big picture and at least from my perspective at the top of the west it looks like aside from the sounders it has most most of the teams have are either in a
Best case, they are sort of staying where they were, but a lot of cases are sort of rebuilding. And it's weird that it's the top of the West.
that's like this and i actually just wrote a little something on this today for mlssoccer.com um and It kind of struck me as I was going through the Galaxy and then LAFC just how much these two teams... have changed and with the galaxy it's like okay we knew that they were going to have to scramble a little bit because of the ricky pooch injury and because they were hard up against the cap like will koontz has done amazing work through the last
three or four transfer windows because he had to unwind one of the all-time great boondoggles put together by the guys who preceded him, Chris Klein and Jovan Karofsky. So he like he's had to do that while creating a winning team. But what has happened in all of that is they ended up. basically above the cap heading into 2025, just as Dejan Jovlic comes off as U22, and just as guys like Jalen Neal are looking for more playing time.
probably bigger number. So like it's a lot of changes at the same time. We saw what this team looked like last year without Ricky. Right. They have Marco Royce and they have Diego Fagundes. And I think they were, they played like seven games without Ricky. I think they were five, one in one. Like those guys are more traditional tens. So it won't look the same way they have in pencil and pack. I mean, you could not.
ask for a better winger tandem than those guys. Edwin Serio was really good last year. They went out and they got Sean Davis, who's not as good as Mark Delgado, but he's still really good. Maybe not really good. He's still pretty good, and he'll be a workhorse in terms of minutes. I don't think that this team is going to fall off a cliff. It is going to put more pressure on Greg Vanney to develop some players from within.
And I think he's always been good at a lot of things as a head coach. That's never been his strong suit. So it's going to test him like that. But I'm not worried that the Galaxy are going to be like a 45. point team i think they'll be 50 to 55 point and then ideally if you're a galaxy fan rounding into shape um for the stretch run it's different with lafc though yeah it is
Different with LAFC because, I mean, they lost 4,000 minutes from that back line. They've lost something like 8,000 or 9,000 minutes.
from their midfield of their top five midfielders in terms of minutes only one of those guys is back and they've lost a lot of minutes on the front line as well even before uh kike olivera is inevitably sent somewhere which i i really think is a move that's going to happen and like these were the two best teams in the west last year one won the open cup the other one mls cup they're not going to be as good in in 2025 i would be shocked if they were as good in 2025 well
We may as well just kind of dig into this and start going maybe team by team, and we may as well start at the top. You said a lot of what I think there is to say about the galaxy, but I do have one big question. Like, you can... A, we don't know what is going on with Dejan Jovalic. I guess the latest rumor is that he may be moving, which would be presumably a pretty big blow, and we would maybe almost have to reassess, I think, their situation because...
that would open up a big hole in their roster. I mean, who would replace them right now if they had to do it tomorrow? They have two open U22 slots, and Will Kuntz is one of the absolute best. in the league in terms of roster building. I assume he probably has like five different targets.
wind up to be the next day on yellow flitch because remember when he came in he was a u-22 guy so that's one way and the other way is like the galaxy are still the galaxy they could probably go get the center forward version of marco royce um you know someone who's 34 35 years old and will play
you know, 2,500 minutes until mid-August and kind of like hit the wall then. But that's when you're able to add another piece in the second half of the season. The thing I want to talk about with the Ovalich is they have to sell him. They absolutely have to sell him because he's a DP caliber player entering his last year. They have no way to resign him after 2025. If they sell him, they get a full $3 million worth of GAM.
Right. So that smooths out all of your roster building for the rest of this year. And it smooths out what you can do for 2026. And then there's the fact that if you're playing the number nine. in front of Marco Reus or Ricky Pooja as your number 10. And with Peck on one side and Paintsle on the other, like you're gonna score, you know, 12 goals if you're ambulatory. You know, like if you have two working legs, you can score 12 goals in that situation. And that's enough. So I think it like.
I think you absolutely have to make the Jovalich move if you're the Galaxy. And I know it sucks because he was so good in the playoffs last year, scored a huge goal in MLS Cup. But it's just the reality of roster building in this league. Pretty big goal in the Western Conference final, too, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately. But, I mean, I think that is the challenge. You know, it's funny because Jovalich represents both sort of the peak.
he in a lot of ways represents the peak performance you're going to get out of u22 he comes in he had a pretty good resume i actually remember thinking like wow his resume is a lot better than most u22s And he performed about as well as you could expect. He ends his last U22 season playing, frankly, like a designated player. But then you are also sort of stuck with the flip side of that, which was at some point.
You have to figure out what to do with these players. And it's, you know, like the Sounders found that or find, you know, had the same situation going into this year where when you have players who perform like DPs, eventually you kind of have to pay them like DPs and.
It does make it a little tougher to replace them when, you know, you're not going to just go out and get a U-22 who's going to hit the ground running. But like you said, maybe they can go and get a, you know, an older player who... comes on a relatively cat friendly number. The bigger questions though I have is still, this was a team whose defense got better as the season went on. And in fact, I think their defensive shortcomings were maybe a little overstated.
by the end of the season. They were pretty decent defensively. But at best case scenario, they've gotten shallower defensively, right? Like Jalen Eal was not going to be necessarily a starter this year, but he was their top. center back off the bench I mean what is are you at all worried about their situation defensively
No, once Amiro Garces replaced Jalen Neal in the starting lineup, and that came with, I think, four or five games left in the regular season. So we got a 10-game sample size with Garces in that starting. lineup um the galaxy had i think a top four defense in the league in terms of expected goals allowed per game and that was still in the context of them being a heavy possession team with kind of an anchor of a defensive presence in Ricky in central midfield.
You guys saw, I'm sorry to bring this up. I didn't want it, but you know, of course you twisted the knife right at the start. So I'll just, the moment I realized it's like, Oh, Garza solved their problem was really the Western conference final. Because there were three times I remember Jordan Morris getting to the open field, and it's like, oh, this is at least a chance, probably a goal. And Garces was there with him step for step.
And for the way the Galaxy played, that's more valuable than what Jalen Neal brought. Jalen Neal is a good ball-playing center back. He's not going to keep up with Jordan Morris in the open field. So they have that, and then they went out. Well, first of all, they brought back Maya Ishida, and then they went out and they got a guy by the name of Zenka, who's, I think, 34-year-old, former Danish international, has the profile of a guy who can give you 2,500.
minutes across all competitions and like okay i'd like it if they had one more but i kind of trust them to go find that one more because they've done it two straight years now i'm really bullish on that defense they also get julian out a back at left back they have a couple of guys at right back who behind mickey imani who can give them minutes i'm just
I'm not worried about it in the same way that I was heading into last season. Fair enough. So that takes care of LA Galaxy pretty thoroughly, I think. Let's turn to LAFC, a team who... I remarked on this after they sold Mateus Boguch. Somehow they have, this is a, oh, this is right where we want them, but then how are they going to scream out of this one? And yet they always.
seem to land on their feet. They have made quite a bit of business of transferring players in, but also transferring players out and having sort of a pretty healthy cycle where... uh they they bring players in they raise their value and then they move them on and then they replace them with players who invariably are able to maintain their level yeah i mean
Look, they've had their misses as well. They spent a lot of money on a guy like Stipe Buke a couple years ago, and they had to eat shit on that one. And then they had a Bulgarian central midfield. Anyway, in large part, I think you're correct. And I think what's kept the floor high is that John Thorrington is really, really good at operating in terms of interleague player acquisition. If you think back to the 2022 season like that.
team didn't win what they you know the double because of gareth well gareth bale helped obviously but like because of their dps they won because they went out and got ilia sanchez and maxime crapaud and aaron long and Ryan Howling said, and all these guys who were available to any other team in MLS. And they all.
ended up with lafc they went on to win the double in pretty spectacular fashion and look he's turned out over the roster i i think it's a little bit soon to do that given how good LAFC were the past couple years but still they got Mark Delgado who's a midfield workhorse and who I think fits the the 5-2-3 that Trundolo wants to play they went out and they got Mkosei Tafari who I thought too
years ago was a best 11 caliber center back and they got him on the cheap from a Dallas team that's just blowing itself up they signed Jeremy Obobese via free agency they picked up Yaw Yeboah and we've seen him in big moments as well so They have the pieces to keep the floor high. I think at the same time, though.
they've become even more one-dimensional. I think the best version of LAFC is the version that we saw at the start of last year, right up until they got stuffed in a locker by the crew. um they got they lost that home game 5-1 to the crew where they went out and they tried to play toe-to-toe with columbus and they couldn't do it and trundle
threw it all the way, and went back to that 5-2-3, playing on the counter, playing in the open field only. I think it suits Bawanga. I'm not sure it suits the rest. of the team to that level. And I think it lowers their ceiling. So they're a high floor team still because of the work Dorrington has done. But I think the way that they approach the game...
I mean, we've seen it in a lot of finals over the past few years. Unless it's a terrible sporting Kansas City team at home, they tend not to have that extra gear that the best teams had. And I think it's a tactical choice they make. And I'm curious on that perspective, do you feel like that the change that Gerundolo made was ultimately, like it felt like a very pragmatic move, but did it? pay off? Was it a good move? I don't think so. I really don't.
I think that they couldn't have beaten Columbus unless something fluky happened, playing toe-to-toe like that. But they didn't have to. But I think, you know, like I think that. against most teams, they would have been better off carrying more of the ball. I really do. And that includes against the Sounders.
I think we saw a little bit of that in the final 20, 25 minutes of the playoff matchup with you guys. Whereas in the U.S. Open Cup game, between... those two teams um look seattle was a much better team and but for the grace of a very questionable jordan morris offside that's one penalty by the way
And a questionable penalty. So it's, I look, they hoisted a trophy and that's the point. And they sold one of their players for $10 million. And that's another point. So you can't knock it too much, but I. I still feel like LAFC is leaving money on the table every time they go out and choose to play this way. fair enough uh so moving down just going down the standings real salt lake another team who man this was it's funny to think back if you go back to last summer
This team was flying. It looked like they were a supporter shield contender. They had everything going their way. And then I don't know how you feel about this, but even at the time, it felt like maybe they got a little cute in the transfer window where they. Sure. I understand. Sometimes you get an offer where you just can't say no. And maybe that was the situation here.
But instead of sort of bolstering their roster, they made a lot of changes. I guess they maybe were attempting to bolster their roster. But it was undeniable that they came out of the transfer window a worse team than they were going into it. And they never recovered. Some of that was the whole situation with Chicho Arango. But it wasn't as simple as that. This is just not the same team after the transfer window as it was before. And they don't seem to have gotten better.
Andres Gomez was a best 11 player the first half of the last year. He was every bit as good as Gabriel Peck. And we all know the type of player that Peck turned into. They got an offer they couldn't refuse. They got $12 million from a league on team, and the player wanted to go.
They tried to say, all right, you'll go in January. We've seen a bunch of MLS teams do that over the past five, six years. And neither the player... nor the the i believe is wrong the the french team um were were up for that they're like no the offer is for the player now and they had to make a tough choice and
I'm not going to say it was the wrong choice because who knows, maybe he gets hurt and they go in the toilet the second half of the season anyway. And they also trust their talent ID and they trust their, their player development at the same time. Chicha got suspended and he lost his best provider and he went in the toilet too. And so it's not a surprise, but it does.
Even with all of that, RSL had the best regular season in club history. 59 points is their single season points record. It's tough to... It's tough to wrap my head around that given how great they were from like 2009 to 2014, but 59 points is their record. I'm guessing in 2000, what was it? 2011, 2010, they were.
Probably better on a points per game basis, right? They were 56 points and that was 30 games. So maybe they were slightly better in terms of, yeah, that would be slightly better in points per game. And that was also the era of the draw. There were a lot more draws in that era of MLS. That's true. But the point being, they still have the bones of, I think, a very, very good team.
You know, whether it's Marshak or Lachlan Brook, the two wingers that they picked up to replace Gomez, one of those guys is going to have to hit. And they're going to need to figure out. whether elias manuel whose underlying numbers are really good really promising whether he can lead the line and then the big piece is how good is diego luna is he is he a 10 goal 15 assist type of number 10 in this league
If he is, then first of all, they're going to have another $10 million sale that they're going to have to adjust for down the road some way. But also that... raises the level of the rest of the guys in the attack and suddenly where you and I have questions now they have answers but like we're stacking a lot of ifs one on top of the other with this team and it's just hard to be as confident going into 2025 given all that
So I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about the Sounders. They obviously finished last year fourth in the table, but made it to the Western Conference final. We're really, you know, legitimately 10 minutes away from... you know, potentially getting to a, an MLS cup, despite not, I think everyone agreed that last year they did not have the match winners that they have had in the past. And yet they sort of.
collectively willed themselves into a position to be contending again i i look at their roster and i like i i understand the frustration that a large or I should say a vocal contingent of Sounders fans have, which is we were told we were going to get a new designated player and we didn't get one and we are frustrated by that. But I think if you remove that.
variable from it and you look at it holistically this is a team that effectively kept the league's best defense together and i just found this stat this is amazing the sounders gave up seven fewer goals in their last two seasons combined than the Quakes gave up last year alone, which is kind of a mind-bending stat. But they kept the league's best defense together.
And then they bolstered their attack by adding Jesus Ferreira, which I don't know, from my perspective, I realize there's some people that have gotten tired of this analogy. But if you sign the Colombian Jesus Ferreira.
The 25-year-old player who has 53 first division goals under his belt, and he's coming to you from the first division of Columbia, it's hailed as a... monumental really exciting signing but instead you bring him over from dallas where he knows the league where but he's a known commodity and and it's sort of somehow underwhelming especially when you bring him in on a non-dp salary um
And then just to me, that makes it more that makes it not overwhelming, but like that makes it like I'm jacked by that. The fact that. the front office was able to to you know like like renegotiate and extend this deal in a way that essentially does give you guys a fourth dp because i shouldn't keep saying you guys but uh forgive me for that but no no it's okay all right we live in our we live in our biases it's okay fair enough um but like
The Sounders essentially have four DPs now because we've all seen that for the bulk of Jesus Ferreira's career in, in Dallas as a starter, he was a DP caliber player. And I liked your analogy. I made a similar analogy in a column I wrote last week where it was like. If you got a guy with this resume from Argentina, I think it's an eight to $12 million signing. You know, somewhere. Oh, I was going to say, you look at like the best.
The most similar situation I've seen, and it wasn't necessarily with Jesus Ferreira, but, you know, like we just saw the rumors that the Timbers might go out and sign this player from, I think from. So he's playing in France right now. But essentially, he's a 10 million dollar player. And you look at his resume and he's a he's a number 10, but he doesn't have a ton of goals and assists.
And you look at that's what you get. And he's 24 years old. And this is you're going to end up probably spending $10 million on this player. And instead, you bring in you resign Albert Rusnak, who is coming off a 11 goal 19. assist season across all competitions and in somehow it it comes off as not not shooting high enough and yet this is these are proven talents that the sounders have sort of stocked their roster with and i i know it's tempting it's probably fair to say that
The Sounders, if you look at the ceiling of the Sounders, it feels a little bit lower. But man, if you take their four top players, the floor seems pretty darn high. I mean, the floor is the highest of anybody in the league because they kept the defense together. Because Roldan... As a demon, but also getting JP back on a really good deal and the development of Obed Vargas and Josh Atencio and even Danny Leyva. I thought the second half of last season ended up giving good minutes like one.
you have that back fix like you are going to be at the very least a good team and then we saw last year real development in chemistry you know guys like Rothrock stepping forward Georgie Manungu who I absolutely love and then Jordan as a center forward I really think he changed the entire season for you guys because of the space he creates with his gravity, with his willingness to make runs that are not for him.
Like he will make a lot of off ball runs that are like, he knows he's never receiving a pass on this, but suddenly, you know, Rusnak has more space to play in or. Rothrock can come into the pocket. And then the hope this year is that it's Pedro de la Vega and Ferreira getting on the ball in those spots and Ferreira going back to the player he was two years ago.
and de la vega making good um the talent that we can all see but that he's never been able to put together um for any consistent stretch because of the injuries he's dealt with so i you know there were it's MLS. Like you're going to have ifs for every single team. And that includes inter Miami. Um, but I feel like that front office has done a really good job of mitigating the downsides in. every single line from front to back. And the pressure now is on, frankly, I think Pedro de la Vega.
to be better than he was and brian schmetzer um to find the right mix on a week in week out basis given that you guys are going to play 150 freaking games this year so it's like you know convincing these guys like you need to rest you are on the bench for this week and maybe that next week as well because we can see that you're lagging a little bit like that's going to be a part of it I don't think there's a coach in the league who's better equipped to do that. And, you know, I'm...
I'm really excited to watch the Sounders this year, not just because of the on-field stuff. You have a lot of players that I like to watch, but because of the overall... sort of logistical and strategic approach to managing five different competitions i just think it's going to be to me it's going to be absolutely fascinating Yeah, they have 42 matches on the schedule today, meaning without advancing a single round in any of the...
tournaments they're playing in as of today they have 42 matches on their schedule uh that could ease i mean it's they could get to 50 matches without even making a particularly deep run in any of these tournaments just by making the playoffs Essentially, we'll be brushing up against 50 matches. But I guess the one big question I have for them is...
I guess it's a holistic question, but if they're going to play three at the back, which does seem to be what they're building towards right now, they played a scrimmage game before they left to Spain where they were playing three in the back. They played three in the back against... against Pushkas Academia in their first preseason game. We've been told they will likely play three in the back in their next game against Allborg, which is on Friday.
And we, you know, we've, they're not even hiding that this is sort of the plan for now. And then if they have, if it doesn't work, they'll change. But how that holistically changes everyone's role because. Is that a way to get Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Morris on the field together as both as forwards? We've seen them do it as a 3-5-2. We've seen them doing it as more of a 3-4-2-1.
I suppose it's even possible they'll do something like a 3-2-2-3 if they get really crazy. How do you see this playing out? And does that sort of enhance? For me, it makes it even more interesting because this is going to be a new look for them. I think one, it makes it more interesting for the reasons you listed. Two, it's also not necessarily a new look because the Sounders over the past couple of years.
when they were possessing the ball like okay we're a 4-2-3-1 team like no when we're in possession we're a 3-2-2-3 team right and a lot of what this team has done over the past few years really since nico started to age out a little bit has been more about positional play and patient possession and making sure that you're shaped both with and without the ball is really structured
because, you know, turnovers are one of the, you know, arguably the most valuable currency in the modern game. And you eventually have to take chances, which means you're eventually going to turn the ball over more often than not. How are you positioned to win it back and not get gashed? So the 3-2-2-3 has been the answer to that on the ball, starting with that formation from the jump.
doesn't feel like a big shift. It's not. I don't think it will be a big shift. And I think that doesn't rule out a more traditional 4-2-3-1 for... big chunks of time, especially if you see a game where like, okay, we're probably going to be able to play in transition a little bit more in this one. Let's get actual wingers out there and let's, you know, let's play Rusnak underneath Jordan. And we'll have Jesus play as sort of a...
a pinching left winger, almost the role that we're seeing Rafinha play in for Barcelona this season. Like all of that is on the table now. And then again, that goes back to the Schmetzer thing where it's like, okay, I have to solve for all of this, but these are all good. problems to have, especially in a league like MLS. Yeah, it was one of the interesting comments that that Brian made during the preseason was he's less worried about.
whether we're calling it a three center back or not, but as long as he sort of has two defensive midfielders, he feels like everything else sort of like works within the system. But anyway, moving on to Houston. admittedly a team who I have not been as closely following this off season, but they came into the off season with.
with notably the least amount of gam of any team in the league. And that is sort of put them behind the eight ball a little bit, right? Well, yeah, but then they just sold Coco Karasquia. Right. So I'm pretty sure they got close to maximum gam.
out of that so they're not as hard up as they are it's just that Coco Kerskia was their best player and Hector Herrera was their second best player and both those guys are gone now they do have an open DP slot the the plan with that is to go out and get a number 10.
and then slide Amin Basi to the right in that sort of half a winger, half an attacking midfielder role that Coco played so well for the past couple of years. Now that still leaves a big question on who makes the game from... you know deep in central midfield because at their best it was Aceh Aceh right now the number one guy on that depth chart is Brooklyn Reigns who's a really good young player and I have high hopes for him he's 19 years old
And he'd be asked to replace one of the greatest midfielders in CONCACAF history for a team that actually wants to win stuff this year. So I assume they're going to go out and get... a number eight who is a little more proven. The very obvious answer to me is Eduardo Atuesta. who plays the position in almost the exact same way that Hector Herrera did, who can probably be gotten on loan for a...
well below DP number from Palmaris, which is exactly what LASC did last year. There's like no better fit in the league than Edward Atuesta to the Houston Dynamo this year to fill that. Hector Herrera hole. If they do that, I like their chances a lot. And do they actually have two open DP sponsors? Is Sebastian Ferreira's spot already spoken for? He's gone.
Um, and that's, yeah, that spot is, uh, not spoken for. I'm not sure. No, that yet. So sorry. Their, their plan is to go the two DPs for you 22. model so that allows them to use uh two million of the u22 gam and then at least keep some of the powder dry on the gam they got for selling cocoa to uh to pumas And then, of course, MLS does also change the rules so that you can change designations of four and two.
and three and three at mid-season if you want to, right? Yeah, I believe July 1st is the date, but then you have to have only used one million of the U22 game because that's not tradable and you can't... push that into the next season. Like you have to use that in the year that you have chosen the 242 designation. So next team on the list is a team who I think most people have pegged for.
some improvement and maybe even the most improvement just based on the way they finished last season, if nothing else. And that's Minnesota United. They, they were. One of the best teams down the stretch last year, I don't know if a lot of people realize that, especially Sounders fans who just sort of get used to rolling over Minnesota United, but this is a good team. And they really got good once the Sounders were done playing them.
So what can you tell us about Minnesota United's offseason so far? It hasn't been as busy as maybe I thought it would be. Part of that is because they went out and they signed a lot of players, you know, midseason last year, Yeboah, Pereira. Jefferson Diaz as well, who basically had an assist to Jordan Morris in that game that you guys played. I think it was right after the League's Cup. Yeah, yeah. But they, you know, they...
Yeah, yeah. And they sold Mickey Tapias, who was a starting center back. Hassani Dotson has demanded a trade, which is okay. But it's not... They haven't gone out and gotten the high-level central midfielder that... they so obviously need if they're going to jump a tier and be an actual contender like right now i'm looking at the depth chart um we still kind of expect will trap to be a starter will traps had a good long career
is a useful player. Um, if he's your starter, are you winning a trophy in 2025? I mean, yeah, that's a, it's a, it's a fair question. You know, I don't think you strike me as a MLS cup winning. Central mid. Michael Boxall has had a really very good long career. 36 years old. Still a starter. Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, those are question marks for sure. Fun team to watch. I love Bongi Longwani as an attacking right wing back who sort of, you know, the way they play, they try to... tilt everything to the left side and then that opens up bongi to attack the back post against usually he's isolated on a fullback and he'll have a physical advantage there every single time um
like they know how they want to play and they can execute it pretty well. I think that there's maybe two tiers between them and the best teams in the league. And then they also... got they bought out timu puki who uh i believe they bought him out right or maybe they just no i guess his contract was his oh no no he had a he they bought him out a little early because his contract went through june of 2025 according to
the roster profile at least. So they do have an open designated player spot. Do they, have they indicated what they're planning on doing with that? They haven't. My suspicion, and I know a few other folks. share the suspicion is that they're going to go out and find a DP central midfielder. Um, I have not heard a single name linked. Um, and then like, I was just singing Edward at the West's praises.
I don't think he makes as much sense for Minnesota for how they want to play. They need someone who's a little more robust in terms of field coverage. But like... That level of player would greatly improve this team in my eyes, but still not to the point where I'd expect them to have a say in who's hoisting which trophy.
All right. And then the last team, and then we'll take a break after this one, a little bit of a break for people, but Colorado Rapids are another team who we have not, I feel like I haven't heard much at all from them this off season. They were maybe a little bit of an overachiever last year. They are a team who is I was joking with you at one point that the Sounders are sort of a.
The Pacific Northwest Rapids in that they are sort of following a similar model, but on a maybe bigger budget. But the Rapids just don't like last offseason was it was a. an outlier in that they went out and spent a bunch of money, but that does not seem to have actually indicated some big change in their philosophy. No, I think they're still going to rely on developing young players. I'll tell you what, like I would.
I would feel a lot better about the Rapids if they had gone out and gotten Paul Areola and Jesus Ferreira this year, especially because like they're playing, I think a three, four, two, one. And, you know, Chris Armis went out and he told local Rapids reporters like, no, we're still going to play a 4-2-3-1. But like, that's not what I have heard from literally players on that team. So, you know.
who would seemingly know so uh you know they they i think looked at what they have and what they can do within their budget and they came to the conclusion that Wingers are the most expensive and most hit or miss players in global soccer.
right now. And you need to have significant money to go out and to load your team up with wingers that make a or you need to have like an extraordinary talent pipeline to load your team up with wingers. So I think The big adjustment for this team is like, okay, we saw a lot of good stuff from last year, but we think we can be better.
or better use our talent if we switch the formation a little bit. And that means getting an extra center back on the field, which they really needed to do after they lost or they sold Mois Pompito. And that means... getting more attacking output from attacking wingbacks. And it's a different kind of rubric than when you're using true wingers to make the game.
And I think that's the big shift for the Rapids, and I have no idea how. You could tell me the Rapids end up on 58 points this year, I'd believe you. You could tell me they ended up on 38 points, and I would believe you. I think there's that much variance in what this team can be. And their DP situation is pretty set to Cabral is back, which man, that was quite a contract that he must've been on. I wish I had his agent. I'd still have a podcast. Jordy Mihaljevic and...
How are we pronouncing? Is it Fafa Navajo? Is that how they pronounce his name? Fafa Navajo is the Brazilian Portuguese way. Okay. I call him Rafa Navarro. There you go. Because I will say I worked with a couple of Brazilian guys, you know, in the studio last year. And they were like, you don't have to do that. You don't have to pronounce it the way. Kevin Egan, who's a great guy who hosts MLS 360, he was talking about how he has a buddy from, I want to say, Cary.
one of the towns in Ireland where they have a distinct accent. And his buddy's name is Steve. But if you're from Cary... You pronounce it Steve. And he's like, I'm not going to go on the show and call him Steve. I'm going to say it's Steve. So I think you're okay calling Hafa Navahu.
rafa navarro all right great i appreciate the i don't have to say it that often so i i do appreciate that but there i mean you just jinxed it man he's scoring a hat trick against the sounders this year you're gonna have to say it all the time But there's not really, they have some intriguing youngish talent there. And like you said, the range of potential results is vast. Correct.
that's the that's the colorado rapid season preview right there folks there it is neither of us know shit all right well we're gonna take a little bit of a break uh and we'll come back and we'll kind of go through the the second half of the the Western Conference. Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nos Anietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild.
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Just to make things extra easy, we'll put a link in the show notes too. Thanks. All right, welcome back to part two of this Western Conference preview. And we have a few fun teams that I think... our listeners will enjoy. We get to talk about the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers. Let's start with the Whitecaps who I think people forget they won a playoff game last year and the maybe wildest stat that I have seen in a while.
They have won two playoff games in the last, in their, I believe, two playoff series in their entire history. They won both of those series 5-0. Yes. Yeah. The first one was against the Quakes, I want to say. 2015 and it was like an all-time worst quake like that was like i think at the time they were the worst team to ever make the playoffs yep and then the other one was uh last year in the wild card round when
Vancouver were playing at home in Portland against Portland. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that was. uh it's funny you you look through one lens and it's like oh the white caps are clearly putting it together they finally have a uh an identity they had
They were playing interesting soccer. They had a fun coach. And then they just decided to sort of blow it up. They fired Vanny Sartini. Then Stuart Armstrong, sort of out of the blue, decides that he's going to... not stick around uh for another he was there i mean he's got to be one of the shortest tenured dps in mls history uh he he's going back to england uh which i don't know if there's a story there
But then, of course, there's all these other things that are sort of going on behind the scenes. The Whitecaps are for sale. All of a sudden, the Whitecaps seem to be in the wind, even though they came off of arguably their best season in history. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's even arguable. That was their best season in history. Blowing it up the way they did in terms of...
Getting rid of Vanny Sartini made no sense to me. Not a perfect coach, but had done more, including three straight Canadian championships, which is not nothing. I didn't understand it at all. A bad decision from where I sit. And then, you know, losing Armstrong is a hammer blow because he was that third heat in attack that they had never really had. And they went toe to toe. against lafc in the playoffs when last year 2023
They had gotten absolutely trounced and they looked like a team that could do it. They looked like a team that was like, okay, 2025 is going to be our chance to not just win a Canadian championship, but also like make a real playoff run. And I just don't, unless Ali Ahmed and Pedro Vitae both have two more levels to their games and they've shown stuff. I just have, I can't imagine that this team is.
a significant presence in any sort of trophy conversation other than the canadian championship and i say that as someone who really likes brian white and ryan gold and andres kubas like i think those are three really good players they're not a championship core
yeah and then and then just for good measure they they let fafa pico for go for effectively i mean i guess he was a free agent so they didn't really have much say there but they they let him go and then they all they it looks like they're not going to bring back uh Raposo either right like he like I think I've seen things that his con they might have bigger contract demands and then they're ready to pay but it just feels like a team that
felt very settled now suddenly is we have no idea what i mean they might be the worst team in the the conference i don't think they'll be that because their their back line is pretty good and they do still have kubas But this is a team with a very limited ceiling. And if you told me 50 points, I would tell you that's about a 95th percentile outcome for this group.
Yeah, I guess maybe that's a better way. They have a lower ceiling than a lot of teams in the West. Than any team we've talked about so far and maybe lower ceiling than any team we're going to talk about as well. Like that's where the Caps are right now. Yeah, and so that brings us to the Portland Timbers. This is, again, a team where if you looked at it through a certain lens, was playing really fun soccer.
They had a bunch of really exciting players. They seemed to be, at least when they played the Sounders, they figured out how to defend against the Sounders. But... Man, they, they gave up 56 goals. They scored 65. They had one of the most robust, like, I think I saw a stat, something that among. Any team that had three players that went over 10 goals and 10 assists each, I believe that they all were basically supporter shield contenders. And then you had the Timbers who barely made the playoffs.
what i don't know what and then and now the thing that like i guess a vander in a lot of ways sort of encompass it or illustrates what they were last year The first thing that happens in the offseason is he blows up the team saying like, I don't want to be here anymore. And I feel like I was lied to. And it's starting to look like maybe he won't be.
back right and what's the what's your assessment of the timbers where they are right now i mean my understanding is that evander has played his final game for the timbers like they everything I've heard is they expect to be able to sell him probably within the league, probably to an Eastern conference team. So you don't have to worry about him anymore. He won't hurt you. Probably to an Eastern conference team before.
the season starts um and look that's a problem he was mvp caliber player for most of last year uh and it points to the larger issue with the with the timbers is that they snuck into the playoffs despite the fact that all three of their dps were excellent last season i think combined like they they ended up with like 70 combined goals and assists between the three dps by far the best three dp most productive three dps in the league if you take the
Every team's DPs, they had by far the most productive unit of designated players. It's unlikely they'll be able to replicate that. No matter who they bring in to replace. uh evander and then you have you know santi moreno was really good i think he had six goals 10 assists last year like okay can he step up uh another level from that and then okay diego chara he's pushing 40 um like like his he's finally started to drop off a little bit and i'm not sure that they have an answer i know
timbers fans were saying after last year like well we spent all these money on d all this money on dps why don't we spend that on the back line it's like well if you look at the back line They actually spent a lot of money on it. They've actually invested pretty heavily and in gold as well. It's a team that on paper, I think should have been a lot better. And I'm not exactly sure why they weren't because I think there's 25 teams that would take.
Kamal Miller you know I think that there's 20 teams that would be interested in Dario Zuparic like there's like there's talent in this group and it just didn't work and yeah like and good luck to phil neville figuring it out um well i i know i don't know how you felt but i know when this timbers hired neville last year i was like great this this is a this is a gift for
the rest of the Western Conference. I think he was better than I expected. But given the... But you illustrate all the talent that they've spent money in the places that you want them to spend money. And yet, you know, like they spend about a bunch of money on Kripo and here he is. He was not really even their starter at the end of the year last year. How much of this is on Neville and how much of Neville is Neville sort of being asked to sort of like.
make the most out of a talented but really messy roster? I mean, I don't think it's not on Phil Neville. I think ultimately, you know, if you're the head coach of a team that's losing 5-0, essentially at home in the playoffs, you've pulled some wrong levers. You've done something wrong. So I think it's that, but it's also just the larger cultural issue with the timbers is players don't go there and improve.
You don't get a lot of guys, especially domestic guys who are on cost-controlled contracts. You don't get a Jackson Reagan. You don't get a Christian Roldan. And it's tough to win consistently. if you don't have guys like that raising the floor. So I think it's a combination of maybe Phil Neville not covering himself in glory, but also the Timbers.
overall culture with regard to player acquisition you know id acquisition and development um being subpar i think it's you know subpar is putting it kindly Yeah, and one of the more interesting stats, and not just a sort of rail on the timbers, but it's something that I feel like doesn't get talked about.
more enough is that this is a team that effectively has never developed a homegrown player in their entire history they've barely developed anyone they've drafted what's even crazier is this is a team that doesn't even really have Americans playing significant roles. They have almost all players that are in that. I mean, I don't know, maybe that sounds bad, but this is, you know, you look at the Sounders and this is a team that half their roster grew, essentially grew up in the, in the area.
And you have a Timbers roster who most of these guys probably couldn't have named, picked Portland out on a map before they got there. And it does, I think, speak to a strange culture because it doesn't really make sense to me that you have this. this team who is built around a larger culture that is really strong, like the Timbers Army.
And Timbers fans are very passionate and they put a lot into the team. And yet the roster is never, never really reflected that during really their entire MLS era. And I don't know how to, what to make of that. I mean, it's just a choice. It's a choice from that front office and presumably the ownership group as well. And presumably the coaches that they hire is like, okay, we...
we're not a team that's going to be looking for domestic talent. We think that there's better talent elsewhere. And the question is like, how, how many seasons like last year? And the year before, do you have until you reassess? Yeah. And I guess one of the so the the player that I was alluding to who I couldn't remember his name earlier in the show is.
is a player that's playing in France right now named David Costa. I guess that's, well, he's a Portuguese player who's currently in France at, is it Lens? Lens? How do you say that? L-E-N-S? Yeah. I think it's Lens. long of course well we're talking about rafa navarro uh anyway uh what do you know of this i mean his stats don't jump out at me Transfer market tells me he's going to end up costing somewhere between $7 million and $10 million.
what do you do you know anything about this player i don't i i just know that he's supposed to be a number 10. i looked at his fb ref page and it didn't jump out but yeah um there's a lot of guys who are not necessarily in the right situations in their current club team. whether it's in Europe or South America or even elsewhere in MLS, who in a better situation...
can really blossom. It feels like a risk because it's the opposite of what they did with Evander, right? Like Evander, everybody knew he was really good because he was leading the Europa League in assists. It's like, oh, this guy's a... number 10 and we're seeing him play that every week and now granted it's at it was at a lower level than this douglas is it douglas da costa uh yeah i mean i his yeah something like that
But whatever. Okay. The potential new number 10. Yeah, exactly. Like you, you have to, you just have to believe in your scouting, I guess. I would be surprised. if he's as good as Evander but that's a really really high bar you could still be a really effective MLS player and not be as good as Evander was last year and not to go on too much of a tangent but it also sort of underscores the
The world transfer market has gone kind of haywire. The money that is being thrown around, especially now that Argentina is suddenly flush with cash and spending wildly on MLS players, which... which will come back as a recurring theme later in this as we work our way down this list. But it's just really expensive to buy players from abroad these days. It is, though I think that there are...
there are still places where you can get a lot of bang for your buck. And for the most part, that's in the top second divisions. in uh france and uh germany and spain and italy maybe less so in the championship in england uh but like i look man Cedric Toyster and Marcel Hartel were awesome for St. Louis when they came on second half of last season. Those guys are not making a ton of money.
And they would not, I think they both came for free, but they would not have cost a ton of money in the transfer market either. And both of those guys were awesome in MLS. So you can still find those deals if they're out there. But in general, yeah, I think... Look, the TV rights deal in Mexico, we see...
Those teams throwing around a lot of money now, which to me has been a get out of jail free card for a few teams in MLS because they've made money on guys who I don't think were very good. The fact that.
argentinian teams as you said um but it starts at the top with saudi arabia being able to just like change everything about how the global transfer market works um and it's gonna have you know the actual economy doesn't have any trickle down effect but the soccer economy amongst these clubs certainly does
Yeah, so Austin, the next team on our list here is a team that hits a lot of the marks that we were just sort of talking about. This is a team, they sort of got a get out of jail free car with Sebastian Drusi. I still don't understand how any team looked at what he did in MLS over the last two years and thought, yep, that's a $10 million player for us. And yet somehow, I don't know if...
if Austin actually made money on the deal, but they certainly aren't really any worse on the, on the ledger for it. And they've sort of remade their, their roster, at least at the top end. They brought in Brandon Vasquez, who, again, another player who I don't see a $10 million player, but... hey, if an American's going to get $10 million moves like this, I don't want to hold it against them. And then they got this Georgian guy who I can't remember his name, but he put up really...
Albanian, there you go, sorry. And he put up some unreal numbers at Granada in Liga 2, but it really hadn't done much when they had gone up to La Liga. But on paper, this is a team that has at least raised their ceiling a lot, right? I think so. I think it was a lot. I'm with you. It's a lot of money for Brandon Vasquez. The argument to spend that is he's 26. He's proven an MLS. He did put up good numbers for Monterey last year. I think he had 14 goals and five assists in about 2,300 minutes.
across all competitions yeah like that's really solid and you're not going to have to worry about that spot for the next five years right like that's the other part of it and you're not taking up a designated player spot or excuse me, an international roster slot as well. So there's a lot of boxes to check. I can defend that one. The Murto Azuni one, that's the Albanian guy. Yeah. It's a weird fit.
It's a weird fit because he really is a second forward. It strikes me as a really weird fit. But... he has scored at every level he's played at. And that includes, you know, he wasn't great in La Liga. He had 11 goals in a season though. You know, like that's, that'll probably translate. And he has the physical characteristics of a guy who can work in. It's just you hired a coach, Nico Estevez, who's a 4-3-3 positional play, methodical buildup guy, and you gave him two center forwards.
well, one center forward and a guy who's more of a second forward than anything else. It's like, okay, is he going to be willing to play a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2? I know he has said in preseason that he is, but that's... different thing than when the rubber meets the road and the games actually matter so strange it's a little strange to me it is a little strange the other thing just strikes me he's a 29 year old player
who they spent like 12 million dollars they they exercised his uh exit clause on 12 i think it was 12 million dollars 12 million dollars is an outrageous amount of money in mls still like we've gotten used to hearing uh eight figure transfer fees but still 12 million dollars is a lot of money to pay for a 29 i mean i don't know that there's been any 29 year olds that they've that that mls teams have spent that much money on
Yeah, I don't have that off the top of my head, but yeah, if you're spending 12... Well, I'll say this. Between Osman Bukhari, who they... He was a right winger that they brought in over the summer. And Brandon Vasquez, who's the center forward, and Murto Azuni, who is ostensibly the left winger. That's a $30 million front line. Right. You better get 65 goals.
You better get 65 goals this year. Otherwise, what have you done? Well, and then the other thing that's strange to me about this roster build is that the player who is presumably being sort of like set up to be there. their, uh, playmaker is a 20, uh, you 22 signing from what you, Ukraine, I think, uh, uh, a foreign, a U22 signing, a foreign U22, U22 season. who does not have a ton of first team minutes, let alone first team success.
Are you talking about Dubrsarski? Yeah. Because I think he's more of an 8-10. Sorry, a 6-8. Okay, okay. Besard Solovich. Well, they're going to play, I think, with two free eights, right? Basard Sabovich, who they brought in for free, I think he was just at Hammerby. He's more of a cover a lot of ground.
make a lot of those, like a Cole Bassett style central midfield. Okay. And then they're hoping that Danny Pereira, who has been maybe miscast as a... game controlling number six they're hoping danny perera can be kind of what albert rusnak has been okay in terms of maybe not a true number 10 in a lot of ways but still puts up by getting guys into the right positions and a lot of pass before the pass work. We'll see. I don't hate the theory behind it, but it's...
It feels like this is another very high variance team, and that's before we even touch on the central defense, which I think gives me more questions than answers. And this was a central defense that wasn't very good to begin with. Correct. Yeah. I thought they played better down the stretch last year. Brendan Heinzeich and the Ukrainian guy that got Alexander Svatok.
But it doesn't strike me as a 55-point top of the Western Conference team or nearly there as they were in their miracle season they had a couple years ago. yeah uh all right so we're now down to fc dallas uh i don't know what there is to say i mean this is a team who has i don't they they were sort of selling the team for parts
And with the idea that they were going to build around Petr, Musa, and Velasco, and then they sell Velasco. Would they get a great offer? I mean, if you can get whatever, again, I think it was a $12 million transfer for Velasco. Is that right? Yeah, something like that. But then they're just sort of starting over. And if I'm a Dallas fan, I'm pulling my hair out. They've got a lot of money, and presumably they'll go out and spend some of it.
Man, this is a team that didn't seem that far off last year, did they? I thought they seemed pretty far off. Okay. I thought they couldn't. If they were trying to defend well, they couldn't figure out how to generate any attack. If they were really going out on the attack as they did under Peter Luxon. They weren't able to keep the ball out of the back of the net. Moussa put up good numbers. Little worried about the advanced data.
If these rumors about AC Milan being interested in him at 15, $18 million, if those rumors are true, I say take the money and run and just go into full rebuild mode. But they're a team that's... You know, we've seen them mentioned around Evander and around Lucho Acosta. And with the new transfer market in MLS, the cash transfer system, like they very obviously...
have the ability to get something like that over the line. But on it, if I was, if I was a Dallas fan, I would kind of want the rebuild. I would kind of be in, all right, let's. Let's tear it down. Let's get some academy kids back into the first team. Let's do something about that central defense, which is not great. It's Lala Sabubakar and Sebastian Abiyaga in 2025. Like, let's...
let's go back to square one and build from there because we certainly have the financial flexibility to do that. And that includes both GAM. And if you just look at them over the past five years in the transfer market, they're like $25 million in the black. Like they have made a significant profit in the transfer market over the past five years. And that's before you factor in any potential Peter Musa move.
Yeah, and I guess the one that really struck me as odd, and maybe it shouldn't, but the Fari move, where he seems to me to be the most talented central defender they had, I suppose. I assume there were locker room issues there. That was sort of the problem. He played his senior year at Seattle University for Pete Viewing, and that was sort of the word here was that they had a falling out, and that's part of why the Sounders have never been.
really interested in in bringing him to seattle but he is clearly a very talented player and uh i it seemed like they sold pretty low on him i agree I agree. It just must have become untenable in the locker room because it was two different coaches last year who decided that he wasn't a starter. Even as they were hemorrhaging goals, they both said no. he's not for us but i if lafc can unlock his talent um it'll end up being an all-time great steal of a trade but it's it's a massive if yeah
All right, we're on to St. Louis, a team who, if you weren't paying attention, got a lot better during the second half of the season, but during the first half of the season were... really really quite awful yeah i mean st louis fans got angry at me um a lot in their inaugural season when i kept pointing out that um The early season win, you know, wins were that was unsustainable. It was going to regress. And if you look at what happened in the second half of the season.
That was true. And then if you look at what happened the first half of last season, that was still true. And you know how you know front office and ownership knows that. I was right and that it was all true is that there is a new coach and there are at least nine new starters since this team kicked off two years ago. So it feels. New in a lot of ways. The new coach, Olaf Melberg, 3421. It's going to be Teutcher.
and Hartzell underneath the center forward, whether that center forward is Zhao Klaus, who's been terrible since people stopped passing the ball to him. And by people, I mean opposing defenders, whether it's Zhao Klaus or Simon Boettcher up top, I'm not sure. But to me, it's a sensible change.
because it allows those two guys who were so good after they arrived midseason, it allows those two guys to kind of make the game a little bit. And then the other big... big-ish acquisition this winter is Timo Baumgartel, who's a... veteran German center back was really high end prospect at one point, but I think injuries kind of killed his career a little bit. It'll be.
interesting to see how he holds up in mls given the heat and the different playing surfaces and the different altitudes you play at and all of that but i i like this roster as it's constructed um And just the theory of it much better than, than the roster of, of the past couple of years that this team said. And I'm sure you appreciate that their coach might have the best beard in, in MLS. Yeah.
I mean, he's the beard, but the whole look, he's a very handsome guy. Yeah, he really is. It's really quite, quite disarming. And then Marcel Hartle is a player who on paper. Looked like the exact kind of player every MLS team should be targeting as a designated player. Just kind of very, very good in the top.
He was very good in the second Bundesliga, and then he came here and started off strong. Yeah, I think he's... I don't think he'll be a best 11 guy, but it wouldn't shock me. He... was massively productive as was toy shirt what once he arrived as well it's you know okay um there's
Like the adjustment period is over. So you can expect them, I think, both to be among the better attackers in the league. And then it becomes a question of, okay, does the switch to... three center backs work are we going to have a little bit more of the ball or are we going to be this sort of um very direct very german style team and um can we get answers in terms of winning the ball in central midfield because i think that's you know if they're going to start edward leuvin and chris durkin in
a, you know, 3-4-2-1, if those are your two deep-lying midfielders, I don't think you're going to have the field coverage that you probably need in the biggest games.
uh next up sporting kansas city and maybe the biggest get out of jail free card of all of them was somehow kansas city getting out of alan palito's contract this last off i still don't even believe that what has been reported it feels like something is off here where he is going back to chivas to presumably take less money i mean i don't understand this deal at all
He's already back with them. He was on $3.6 million guaranteed for 2025 and 2026. That's what I don't know. That's what makes no sense about this. Like, how did they get out of that contract? I don't know. Like you said, it's one of the all-time get-out-of-jail cards in MLS history, especially because, look, Willie Agata is just a better player. Willie Agata, like...
Other than like his second year, which in retrospect, we understand now. Oh, he was playing on a broken leg. That's why his numbers dipped. Other than that second year, he has been like. He's been consistently a 0.6 XG per 90 type of center forward. And that's a DP caliber center forward. So they have that. They've gone out now and they spent $5 million on.
uh the spanish playmaker and a russian winger they have steven afrifa who was really really good in limited minutes last year as a backup winger they have sort of a georgie manungu type right where he's really good off the dribble uh i don't think he's as good off the dribble as georgie i think he's a little bit better attacking through the lines like he he is very sharp in his movement around goal um but he does
add an element that they didn't have last year. They still have Daniel. Like you could talk yourself into sporting Kansas city being good again. I. think they will be in the mix for the playoffs but i also feel like their moves aren't done so it's tough to like just looking at their depth chart um I'm not sure that they have their defensive midfielder. Is it Nemanja Rodoja? I don't think he was great last year. Is it Zoran Basang? I don't think he was great last year either. Their center back.
depth chart is very very thin and none of those guys strike me as best 11 caliber center back so the a lot of the stuff that the 10 years the great run they had last decade, a lot of the stuff that was foundational for that still feels like it's missing with this team. And then on to San Jose, who has... who put together one of the all time worst seasons in MLS history last year, 21 points. They gave up 78 goals, which.
is honestly better than it was pacing on for a long time like at one point it looked like they might actually get to 100 goals allowed like they were shipping goals at an alarming alarming rate uh but i don't I did not have sounds a earthquakes signing Bruce arena on my bingo card. And yet here we are. And then he sort of remakes the roster with not necessarily a lot of flashy signings, but a lot of guys who have, you know, proven.
mls pedigrees i mean he went out and he got his guys and that's what bruce does right because he wants to change the culture first and foremost and um meant the Quakes need to change the culture after the previous few years, arguably after the previous 12 years. It's just it hasn't.
been good there um and he needed to fix that so mark anthony k uh ian harks dave romney nick lean i think a bunch of those guys will be starters as well um but then on top of it you get Chicho Arango, who we know at his best is an elite goal scorer in this league. And he should be able to click with Christian Espinosa, who is still an elite chance creator in this league. And then you also get the underrated thing with Bruce, which is his ability to develop players. And he's done that.
everywhere and nobody really wanted to give him credit for it with the galaxy but remember he had sean franklin he had omar gonzalez he had aj de la garza from those those drafts and that was Those were load-bearing walls of that galaxy dynasty from 15 years ago. I think he's going to do really good things with this team.
I don't think they're going to compete for any titles this year, but I think you're going to see guys like hopefully Cruz Medina or Chance Cowell, you know, maybe the two defenders that they took in the top five of the draft. reed roberts and max floriani like floriani looks as can't miss a super draft center back prospect as i have seen maybe since psycho para like he is that level of talent from what i've seen um that's
Those are the types of pieces that Bruce has created, has turned into guys who lift trophies in his MLS career. The Quakes are a lot more interesting to think about. because of that. And by the way, their work might not be done because the latest reports are that Estudiantes and one other Argentinian team are maybe wanting to get Hernan.
Lopez, the number 10, who the Quakes bought this time last year, they maybe want to bring him back. And if that's the case, then Bruce will be able to go out and get his own guy. in to play as a number 10 and we know when he does that he tends not to miss So I'm not putting the Quakes down for 60 points or anything like that, but they should be a hell of a lot more fun and a hell of a lot better than they were the last couple of years. Yeah, and our listeners know this, but...
I grew up in the Bay Area. I know that the Bay Area has a soccer culture, has a really strong soccer culture, but the Quakes have never been able to tap into it. And it just... is continuously frustrating for me as someone who knows that market well, how poorly that team has been run and how, you know, you were obviously in the Bay Area for a long time as well.
And it's just, you see it everywhere. You know, you look at the players that have come out of the Bay Area, the greater Bay Area, and become good pros, and how few of them have gone through the quakes is almost criminal. Uh, but maybe it's Bruce arena. Maybe Bruce arena can finally unlock it, but that he did. I mean, he did it for new England. Yeah. Right. Exactly.
And like as someone who grew up in New England, let me assure you that the talent level, the athletic talent level you get in New England is nowhere near what you get in the Bay Area. Like they're just more and better athletes, especially soccer players in the Bay area. If Bruce is able to coach for two years and then sort of, um, steer the ship as CSO for the next four or five after that, I think the Quakes will be in a really, really good spot in terms of getting all that local talent.
Honestly, I think the model would be what the Sounders have done over the past seven, eight years in terms of going from a team that didn't. have any pathway to now a team that has guys like Obed and uh Atencio and Reed Baker Whiting and you know so you're not relying on you know once out of the blue thing like a
DeAndre Yedlin or Jordan Morris, where you have something much more robust and thought out. Well, the final team in the Western Conference is a team who obviously is in their first year, San Diego FC. They have made some notable signings, most notably Chucky Lozano. But what do you make of this team? I know it's fun to project them as being...
I've seen a lot of people kind of talk them up as potentially being competitive, but I don't know. What do you make of this? How much chance do you give them to be competitive out of the gates? A pretty good chance, man. I like the Chucky signing, and then they matched him with a DP on the other wing in Andres Dreyer, who's in his prime. Danish international winger. They have Marcus Ingevartsen as their go-to center forward. Not a prolific scorer.
like does not put the ball in the back of the net a lot, which worries me a little bit, but the midfield getting Luca De La Torre, if he can stay healthy, like the, the job. of moving the ball from the defensive third to the attacking third is often overlooked in soccer analysis. And look at De La Torre excels at that. And I think they answered a massive question.
in getting him from Celta Vigo. I think he's going to be a really excellent player in this league. And he's also a local guy. And I think that matters to them as well. So I like a lot of it. Mikey Varis. He wants that 4-3-3. You know, he wants to control the ball. He wants to control... where on the field the game is going to be played and at what tempo. And I think they've worked to give him pieces to do that. It's all very, very theoretical at this point. It might not work out, but I...
It's been thoughtful in a way that some of the less successful expansion teams in recent vintage have not been thoughtful at all. Yeah, well, that'll be an interesting thing to watch as always. Well, Matt, you've been more than gracious. I don't know if I knew exactly what I was signing you up for, but I appreciate you doing this with me.
We went through all 15 teams in the Western Conference. Hopefully this is the first of what will be a regular sort of check-in with you in terms of getting a broader picture of what's going on in the league. Real quick, do you have any sort of parting shots that you want to share about what you're expecting this year? I mean, one of the things that's been ringing in my head.
Because I'm really starting to dig into season preview content and who's going to win the Supporter Shield, who's going to be MLS Cup favorites and all that. Since... CONCACAF Champions League changed their format back in 2018 and moved... the entire tournament into one calendar year because remember before that it would be the group stage in 2016 and then the knockout round in 2017. So they changed that format and it's still basically that format now in 2025.
No team that has played in CCL has won MLS Cup in that same year. And I think there's 10. mls teams playing cco yes this year including every single one that you or i would look at right now and say like that's an mls cup contender yeah and i think The other thing to think about, I think since 2018, the only team to win MLS Cup that made the playoffs the year before. was NYCFC in 2021. They made the playoffs in 2020, but of course, that was an expanded field and a shortened season.
yeah so it's well the sounders won in 2019 and made the playoffs in 2018 but okay so that they were the last team to do that that would make sense because 2020 it was the crew won, and they missed the playoffs in 2019. 21, it was NYCFC won, and they made the playoffs in 2020. But 2022... lafc won they missed the playoffs in 21 2023 the crew won they missed the playoffs in 2022 and 2024 the galaxy won um and they missed the playoffs in 2023 so we're like it's
To me, that is just tangible proof that... the season is long and it's hard and if you start stacking you know 50 game seasons one on top of the other you're probably going to run out of gas and I think that's what happened to you know, the very best teams in the league this past year, including that Columbus crew team that I still think played the best soccer over the past 18 or.
18 months starting basically in summer 2023, they played the best soccer of any MLS team I've ever seen. And it's something that I have to think about as we're all doing this season preview content because as deep as the Sounders look right now. And as impressed as I am with Cincinnati's roster build, it's like they're going to empty the tank four different times this season. What are they going to have left in November?
Yeah, no, I think that's a very astute point. I think it's the biggest concern I have for the Sounders is... is sort of just the wear and tear of this schedule. And every team looks reasonably deep before they start stacking up injuries. And then you get an injury or two and all of a sudden the cracks start to show.
You know, teams that we thought were 18 teams deep, it's like, well, certain pieces at the top, if you take those out, they're harder to replace than others. But, you know, we'll see. I do like the Sounders roster build. I think they stack up well in the West, but there's a lot of games to play. But thank you for doing this, Matt. I really appreciate it. Of course.
read matt at mlssoccer.com uh you can find out on blue sky it's what matt doyle 76 on blue sky uh i don't even know what i am in blue sky it's uh just matt doyle at blue sky oh there you go you were early this time Yeah, it was one of the early adopters of that one. I've got a new sub stack as well. That's right. Tacticsfreezone.substack.com. It's just a little bit of extra stuff. I'll probably be writing up off of this.
as well. Just another place to find my work. So absolutely. Well, thank you for doing this, Matt. And I'm Jeremiah Shan. This is No Sarietas, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. And we will catch you next time.